The permissive binding theory of cancer.

The later stages of cancer, including the invasion and colonization of new tissues, are actively mysterious compared to earlier stages like primary tumor formation. While we lack many details about both, we do have an apparently successful explanatory framework for the earlier stages: one in which genetic mutations hold ultimate causal and explanatory power. By contrast, on both empirical and conceptual grounds, it is not currently clear that mutations alone can explain the later stages of cancer.

Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Prescription Contraceptive Use and Costs Among Privately Insured Women, 2006-2020.

Background: In the years immediately following the Affordable Care Act (ACA)'s contraceptive coverage requirement, out-of-pocket costs fell for all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods and use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) increased. This analysis examines whether these trends have continued through 2020 for privately insured women.

Methods: Using 2006-2020 MarketScan data, we examined trends in prescription contraceptive use and out-of-pocket costs among women 13 to 49 years old.

Mixing genome annotation methods in a comparative analysis inflates the apparent number of lineage-specific genes.

Comparisons of genomes of different species are used to identify lineage-specific genes, those genes that appear unique to one species or clade. Lineage-specific genes are often thought to represent genetic novelty that underlies unique adaptations. Identification of these genes depends not only on genome sequences, but also on inferred gene annotations.

Defining characteristics and conservation of poorly annotated genes in Caenorhabditis elegans using WormCat 2.0.

Omics tools provide broad datasets for biological discovery. However, the computational tools for identifying important genes or pathways in RNA-seq, proteomics, or GWAS (Genome-Wide Association Study) data depend on Gene Ontogeny annotations and are biased toward well-described pathways. This limits their utility as poorly annotated genes, which could have novel functions, are often passed over.

The Origins and Functions of De Novo Genes: Against All Odds?

"De novo" genes evolve from previously non-genic DNA. This strikes many of us as remarkable, because it seems extraordinarily unlikely that random sequence would produce a functional gene. How is this possible? In this two-part review, I first summarize what is known about the origins and molecular functions of the small number of de novo genes for which such information is available.

Association of Provider Specialty With Abortion-Related Morbidity and Adverse Events Among Patients Having Procedural and Medication Abortions.

Objective: Since abortion was legalized throughout the United States in 1973, states have passed restrictive abortion policies, including permitting only obstetrician-gynecologist physicians (OBGYNs) to provide abortions. We are unaware of any research that directly compares patient safety-related outcomes by physician specialty. In this study, we compared major and any abortion-related morbidity and adverse events in abortion care provided by physicians of other specialties versus OBGYNs.

A numerical study of the coupling between Rayleigh streaming and heat transfer at high acoustic level.

Complex coupling between thermal effects and Rayleigh streaming in a standing wave guide at high acoustic levels is analyzed numerically. The approach is guided by the recent analytical study, showing that reverse streaming cells can form if the nonlinear Reynolds number exceeds a value depending on the wave frequency and thermophysical properties of the fluid and solid wall. A numerical configuration is introduced to investigate the evolution of the streaming flow structure and the average temperature field at high acoustic levels.

Contraceptive Procedures in Internal Medicine Clinics and Resident Education: a Qualitative Study of Implementation Methods, Barriers, and Facilitators.

Background: Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants are highly effective and increasingly popular. Internal Medicine (IM) clinics and residency curricula do not routinely include LARCs, which can limit patient access to these methods. In response, internists are integrating LARCs into IM practices and residency training.

Many, but not all, lineage-specific genes can be explained by homology detection failure.

Genes for which homologs can be detected only in a limited group of evolutionarily related species, called "lineage-specific genes," are pervasive: Essentially every lineage has them, and they often comprise a sizable fraction of the group's total genes. Lineage-specific genes are often interpreted as "novel" genes, representing genetic novelty born anew within that lineage. Here, we develop a simple method to test an alternative null hypothesis: that lineage-specific genes do have homologs outside of the lineage that, even while evolving at a constant rate in a novelty-free manner, have merely become undetectable by search algorithms used to infer homology.

Actions Taken by Women in Response to Intimate Partner Violence and Intimate Partner Violence Status at 1-Year Follow-Up.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive public health issue with significant physical and mental health sequelae. A longer duration and greater severity of abuse are associated with adverse health outcomes and increased risk of revictimization. Current research has identified a variety of strategies used by women in response to abuse, but has not established whether the use of these strategies is associated with decreased IPV over time.

Association Between Mode of First Delivery and Subsequent Fecundity and Fertility.

Importance: More than 20% of births globally are by cesarean delivery, including more than 30% in the US. Prior studies have reported lower rates of childbearing after cesarean delivery, but it is not clear if this is due to maternal choice or lower conception rates.

Objective: To investigate the association between mode of first delivery and subsequent conceptions and live births.

Publication Productivity and Academic Rank in Medicine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Purpose: Academic medical faculty members are assessed on their research productivity for hiring, promotion, grant, and award decisions. The current work systematically reviews, synthesizes, and analyzes the available literature on publication productivity by academic rank across medical specialties.

Method: The authors searched PubMed for medical literature, including observational studies, published in English from 2005 to 2018, using the term "h-index," on July 1, 2018.

What Women Want: Factors Impacting Contraceptive Satisfaction in Privately Insured Women.

Purpose: To identify factors associated with high contraceptive method satisfaction among privately insured, adult women in Pennsylvania.

Methods: We used cross-sectional survey data collected in 2014 from 874 privately insured women participating in the MyNewOptions study who were currently using contraception. Binomial logistic regression assessed the relationship of contraceptive attributes, attitudes, and sociodemographic variables with contraceptive method satisfaction.

Reproductive Life Planning and Contraceptive Action Planning for Privately Insured Women: The MyNewOptions Study.

Context: Although reproductive life planning (RLP) is recommended in federal and clinical guidelines and may help insured women make personalized contraceptive choices, it has not been systematically evaluated for effectiveness.

Methods: In 2014, some 984 privately insured women aged 18-40 who were not intending to become pregnant in the next year were randomly assigned to receive RLP, RLP with contraceptive action planning (RLP+) or information only (the control group). Women's contraceptive use, prescription contraceptive use, method adherence, switching to a more effective method, method satisfaction and contraceptive self-efficacy were assessed at six-month intervals during the two-year follow-up period.

ACA's Contraceptive Coverage Requirement: Measuring Use And Out-Of-Pocket Spending.

Following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive coverage requirement, privately insured women's out-of-pocket spending for contraception declined and their use of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) increased. Claims data through 2016 show a continued increase in LARC insertions but an increase in out-of-pocket spending for intrauterine devices.

Pervasive population genomic consequences of genome duplication in Arabidopsis arenosa.

Ploidy-variable species allow direct inference of the effects of chromosome copy number on fundamental evolutionary processes. While an abundance of theoretical work suggests polyploidy should leave distinct population genomic signatures, empirical data remains sparse. We sequenced ~300 individuals from 39 populations of Arabidopsis arenosa, a naturally diploid-autotetraploid species.

High Self-Efficacy Is Associated with Prescription Contraceptive Use.

Objectives: In the United States, 45% of pregnancies continue to be unintended. Although many previous studies have focused on external barriers to contraceptive use such as cost or access, fewer studies have evaluated internal barriers such as individual characteristics. We hypothesize that high self-efficacy for contraception will be associated with use of more effective contraceptive methods.

The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Contraceptive Use and Costs among Privately Insured Women.

Objectives: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) contraceptive coverage mandate issued in August 2012 requires most private health insurance plans to cover all U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods without cost sharing.

Gene Evolution: Getting Something from Nothing.

New genes arise from pre-existing genes, but some de novo origin from non-genic sequence also seems plausible. A new study has surprisingly concluded that 25% of random DNA sequences yield beneficial products when expressed in bacteria.

Association between menarche and iron deficiency in non-anemic young women.

Background: The prevalence of iron deficiency (ID) among non-pregnant, reproductive-age US women significantly exceeds rates among males. In clinical practice ID screening relies on hemoglobin, a late-stage indicator of ID. As a single, low-cost laboratory test to diagnose ID before anemia develops is lacking, the study objective was to improve ID screening by identifying risk factors among non-anemic, iron-deficient reproductive age women.

Acoustic and streaming velocity components in a resonant waveguide at high acoustic levels.

Rayleigh streaming is a steady flow generated by the interaction between an acoustic wave and a solid wall, generally assumed to be second order in a Mach number expansion. Acoustic streaming is well known in the case of a stationary plane wave at low amplitude: it has a half-wavelength spatial periodicity and the maximum axial streaming velocity is a quadratic function of the acoustic velocity amplitude at antinode. For higher acoustic levels, additional streaming cells have been observed.

Borrowed alleles and convergence in serpentine adaptation.

Serpentine barrens represent extreme hazards for plant colonists. These sites are characterized by high porosity leading to drought, lack of essential mineral nutrients, and phytotoxic levels of metals. Nevertheless, nature forged populations adapted to these challenges.